In this crazy economy, the need to downsize, streamline and find efficiencies left and right is leaving companies tired and remaining employees worried. This has quite an effect on productivity and creativity. Whether your organization has undergone layoffs or not, tension and concerns about the economy and how it will personally affect your employees is front and center in their minds. This distraction is keeping your business from being productive at a point where you need your staff to do more, not less. So, how to overcome it? Here are a few concepts that may boost morale and work for your organization:

1. Look to add free benefits - find ways to add flexibility for your employees, in their work schedule, in how they can dress, in what they can bring to the office. Creating a flexible work environment reassures that your actions to streamline the business aren't tied to not caring about your staff.

2. Communicate Everything - Be clear and transparent. The more employees know about what's happening in the organization (good or bad), the more at ease and prepared they can be for what's happening, and the easier it will be to make changes when necessary. Leadership should be constantly speaking out and sharing results with employees, so they remember their role in your company!

3. Look for the Silver Linings - Some companies are choosing to focus on, and communicate where things are going right...see this article for how one company is looking at reduced turnover and lower hiring costs as a result of the recession. What's going right for your company?

4. Ask for ideas - Consider starting an idea-sharing program, or if you already have one, run a new campaign through it, looking to your staff (all of them) for new approaches to solving efficiency issues. You may find those folks you won't want to let go and you'll engage your workforce. Just be smart about communicating why you're doing this, so as to not create additional concerns about why you're reaching out.